After The Hissing of Summer Lawns tour, Joni Mitchell retreated to Neil Young's beach house to recover. Eager to travel but undecided about a destination, Mitchell was unexpectedly invited on a cross-country road trip with friends. It was one of three road trips she took between 1975 and 1976 and the beginning of a period defined by wanderlust, both in her physical travels and musical exploration.

During this period, Mitchell boldly declared her move from the "hit department" to the "art department." Critics were slow to catch up, but her creativity was in overdrive. Instead of session aces, she began recording with jazz virtuosos like Larry Carlton and Pat Metheny (guitar), Michael Brecker (saxophone), Herbie Hancock (keyboard), and Don Alias (percussion), as well as several members of Weather Report, including Jaco Pastorius (bass) and Wayne Shorter (saxophone).

1976's Hejira stands out as a testament to Mitchell's artistic evolution. Its subdued instrumentation, coupled with her introspective lyrics, resulted in timeless tracks like "Coyote" and "Furry Sings the Blues" with Young on harmonica. Mitchell once said: "I suppose a lot of people could have written a lot of my other songs, but I feel the songs on Hejira could only have come from me."